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UNIT 22

Powwow Event Planner

Build a complete event website for a Tribal powwow: a bold hero, a schedule section, dance categories, vendor info, and a multi-step registration form you control with JavaScript. This is the kind of site a real powwow committee would use.

⏱️ 7 Stages
🥁 Intermediate
🎯 45–60 min per stage
📋 Multi-Step Form + JS

The Big Idea

Powwows are one of the most widely attended cultural events in Indian Country — and they run on information. Dancers need to know registration deadlines. Vendors need to know where to set up. Families need schedules. Drummers need categories and prize info. All of that information needs to live somewhere clear, organized, and easy to use.

In this unit you will build a full event website for a fictional Tribal powwow. The design uses Oswald (a condensed display font built for event posters) paired with Nunito (a rounded, welcoming body font). The color palette is earthy and warm: deep teal, terra cotta, and gold. Everything is built to feel like something a real powwow committee would actually publish.

The JavaScript concept in this unit is the multi-step form — one of the most common interactive patterns on the web. Instead of showing a long, overwhelming registration form all at once, you will break it into three steps: personal info, participation details, and a confirmation. JavaScript shows one step at a time and moves between them when the user clicks Next or Back. You will also add simple required-field checking before advancing.

By the end of this unit, you'll be able to say "I can..."

  • Use CSS custom properties to build a consistent event brand system
  • Design a flex-row info card layout for event details (what, when, where)
  • Build a schedule section using a border-left timeline grid pattern
  • Create category cards with aspect-ratio for image-free visual hierarchy
  • Style HTML form elements including inputs, selects, and textareas
  • Control a multi-step form with JavaScript using classList and addEventListener
  • Validate a required field before allowing the form to advance

🥁 The powwow is one of the oldest social and spiritual gatherings in Native culture. Powwows vary widely by Tribal nation — the traditions, protocols, and structures you will research for this site are meaningful. Take them seriously.

Begin Stage 1

What You'll Build

Seven Sections, One Website

Event Hero Bold Oswald display font, event name, dates, and location
Event Info Flex-row cards: what, when, where, and cost
Schedule Two-day schedule with a time-grid border-left layout
Multi-Step Form Three-step registration form controlled with JavaScript

The complete site includes all seven sections. Each stage adds one section — when you finish Stage 7, the site is done and ready to publish.

Your Stages

7 Stages to a Finished Site

Stage 1 • 14.3% The Foundation CSS custom properties, Oswald + Nunito pairing, hero design Stage 2 • 28.6% Event Info Flex-row info cards with emoji icon pattern Stage 3 • 42.9% The Schedule Time-grid layout with border-left timeline Stage 4 • 57.1% Dance Categories Category cards with aspect-ratio and badge pills Stage 5 • 71.4% Vendors & Info Two-column layout with definition-style info blocks Stage 6 • 85.7% The Form Multi-step form HTML and CSS with step indicator Stage 7 • 100% Form Logic JavaScript: show/hide steps, Next/Back, required-field check

Sources & Research

The powwow descriptions, dance categories, and cultural context in this unit are drawn from the sources below. Before you build the site, spend a few minutes reading about powwow protocol and structure — the content you add will be more authentic for it.

Powwow Culture & Protocol

Dance Categories & Regalia

Web Design & Form Patterns

Educational Standards

  • 3A-AP-13: Create prototypes that use algorithms to solve computational problems.
  • 2-AP-17: Systematically test and refine programs using a range of test cases.
  • 2-AP-13: Decompose problems and subproblems into parts to facilitate the design, implementation, and review of programs.
  • 1c — Empowered Learner: Use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves practice.
  • 4d — Innovative Designer: Exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
  • 6b — Creative Communicator: Create original works or responsibly repurpose digital resources to communicate ideas.

This unit connects to the Minnesota Office of American Indian Education's Original Peoples graduation standards, which require students to demonstrate knowledge of Native American history, culture, and contemporary life. Students research a real cultural event (powwow), understand its Tribal context and cultural significance, and produce a digital artifact that honors that event respectfully.